Saudi Arabia's Luberef falls as much as 6.6% below IPO price in market debut

DUBAI, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Shares in Saudi Aramco's

base oil subsidiary Luberef fell as much as

6.6% below its listing price in its Riyadh market debut on

Wednesday. Formally known as Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company, Luberef

raised 4.95 billion riyals ($1.32 billion) earlier this month

through the sale of 30% of the company to investors in an

initial public offering which was priced at the top of the

range. Luberef's share price traded as low as 92.5 riyals at the

open on the Saudi Tadawul exchange, compared with its IPO price

of 99 riyals. State-led IPO programmes in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and

Dubai have helped equity capital markets in the oil-rich Gulf,

in sharp contrast to the United States and Europe, where global

banks have been trimming headcount in a dealmaking drought.

($1 = 3.7590 riyals)

(Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh, Editing by Louise Heavens)